Locals get sneak preview of revamped Pasadena hotel

Investors, business leaders and city officials Thursday got a sneak peak at the newly remodeled dusitD2 Constance Pasadena hotel.

The hotel’s transformation offers a unique mix of old and new. The building’s exterior retains the classic look from when it was built as a boutique hotel in the Roaring Twenties. The inlaid pillars at the hotel’s entrance remain, as well as the arched windows on the second floor.

But the interior offers a contemporary update that’s designed to attract both international business travelers and others who are seeking a one-of-a-kind hotel experience.

“This is a hotel that’s built for today and tomorrow,” said Martin Nicholson, the hotel’s general manager. “We have smart TVs and interactive rooms where you can bring your own devices. Each room has an iPad that controls lighting, the AC, wake-up calls ... you can even shop using it. And you can bring your own devices and watch Netflix movies. It’s a marvelous juxtaposition of historic with new.”

And the new is striking.

The hotel’s ground-level bar includes a rippling overhead neon light display and the rooms feature a variety of contemporary touches, including built-in flat-screen TVs and modern sink fixtures.

The hotel currently has 136 rooms which are expected to open to the public in September, and 25 larger suites will be built in the coming months, according to Nicholson.

“We’re going to do a complete remodel of the Colorado Boulevard frontage with a rooftop restaurant, a swimming pool, an underground garage and a fitness center,” he said. “The western side will be used for retail and/or event uses.”

The dusitD2 Constance Pasadena is owned by Park Place Commercial LP, and Singpoli Pacifica is the managing partner, Nicholson said.

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Richard McDonald serves as legal counsel for the dusitD2 Constance Pasadena and five other hotel projects. They include a new Marriott at Fair Oaks Avenue that is about to break ground and open in the summer of 2015, renovation of the historic YWCA building by Kimpton Hotel, two other hotels that are planned at Colorado Boulevard and Hill Avenue and a Hyatt hotel that’s planned for Paseo Colorado.

“They are needed,” McDonald said. “If you look at the number of hotel rooms in the city it’s about 2,000 or so. But many of those are very small hotels toward the east side. They are not located in the central business district, which has really matured over the past decade. This is where the hotels are needed.”